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Lithuanian Edgar, 23, said: 'She was getting something like £6 every half hour - I only earned £5.85 an hour at the time.'

And the lifelike sculpture - placed in a sleeping bag and with an open suitcase - certainly turned a few heads as she lay by Birmingham's St Philip's Cathedral.

Double-take: The lifelike sculpture, placed in a sleeping bag and with an open suitcase, turned a few heads as it lay by Birmingham's St Philip's Cathedral

Edgar added: 'It was quite shocking - people thought it was real. They were touching it and kicking it. A lot of people were coming over to have a look.

'The police even approached it because they thought it was a bomb.'

Had it not been for killjoy officers moving Edgar on from his spot five times he thinks he could have made even more money.

He added: 'In the best spot she was getting £6 every half hour. It really does depend on the place.'

Working from photographs, he made the sculpture using silicone and polystyrene 'for fun', but said that the work also had a political meaning.

Edgar explained: 'I come from a country where there is a big crisis at the moment.

Spot the difference: Artist Edgar Askelovic left his sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II (left) which bore a remarkable resemblance to the actual Queen (right) on the streets of Birmingham city centre

'People in the UK talk about the crisis in the UK like the recession so I thought, what if the Queen was homeless? It is more for fun.

'It is the juxtaposition between Lithuania and a real crisis and the recession here.

'The Queen is the face of England. I am trying to say I am England, I can joke like this.'

Edgar did his research before taking the Queen out around the city.

He says he walked around Birmingham and spoke to homeless people, asking where they got their money, where they slept and what they ate.

He added: 'One of the guys said they got £80 a day. One tramp even had an iPhone. It is like another life.'

The artist, who has just finished a fine art degree at Birmingham University, moved to the UK two years ago as an exchange student but decided to say because there was more freedom here than in his native homeland.

The Queen is his first sculpture and took him one month to complete.

Artist: Edgar Askelovic, who has just finished a fine art degree at Birmingham University, moved to the UK two years ago as an exchange student but decided to say